BPM Thoughts and Reflections from Last Week’s Gartner Conference

Fresh off the heels of the Gartner PCC Summit last week I wanted to share some the highpoints in the conference. I feel this is one of the better conferences that I've been to in a LONG time.  Maybe it was the timing of the event and the relevance of web 2.0 at this time frame or maybe it was just a well put together conference. With session titles like, "I Was a Teenage YouTube Star: Strategic, Tactical and Calamitous Futures of Video Inside and Outside the Enterprise" given by Whit Andrews and "Social Software: Demise or Salvation of Knowledge Management?" presented by Debra Logan, how could you not be intrigued to attend?

The sessions were much more than crafty titles though, there were great speakers such as the Panel: "Social Media Best Practices-Purpose, Policy and Etiquette" with Tom Austin and Carol Rozwell. One of the most informative sessions I found was "Taming the SharePoint Beast" with Mark R. Gilbert. This particular session contained a wealth of information on how SharePoint should be used and to what extent you can realistically use it before you need to call in for reinforcements.  This was a particularly hot topic for Ultimus as we work with a great deal of organizations who start off with SharePoint but are looking to go to the next level.  There were some great quotes throughout this session including:

• "SharePoint is like a big vacuum cleaner, going around the company sucking things up but you need tools to make it work"
• "SharePoint is a secure repository, in its basic form. But does this really drive your business in a meaningful way? Build out Processes through tools to see where it shines"

Consequently, if you're in the Raleigh area and want to find out more on SharePoint and BPM we're having a lunch and learn you should attend on Friday, April 23, 2010 at 12 pm EST. 

I'll leave with what I thought was the best quote of the conference in reference to allowing access for employees to use social media forums at work from Booz Allen Hamilton:

"I can't prevent you from being stupid but I can show others that you are".

The background on this was that when Booz Allen was speaking, Walton Smith was saying that at some point you have to trust your employees are smart enough to know what to say and what not to say on social media. It's a good point, and coupled with a quote from MIT Professor, Andrew McAfee "Email is where knowledge goes to die in an organization",You'll see why you want to get your information out there for others to see and learn from whether it's within the organization or outside.

 

Relevant Links:

Microsoft SharePoint 2010 Is Good For BPM

Ultimus and Microsoft SharePoint Integration

 

Nicole Contardo
Marketing Director
Ultimus